After failing to pass their own long-term spending plan last year and supporting the President’s call for trillions in higher taxes, the Senate’s top Democrats, Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer, both appeared on television this weekend to call anyone “extreme” who opposed their push for additional tax hikes on oil companies.

Sen. Harry Reid Claimed Congress Should Hike Taxes On Oil Companies. REID: “It still wouldn’t balance the budget. There — we need to look at the long-term impact that our spending habits have created. We need to look at — why do we need to continue giving tax breaks to the oil companies?” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 4/3/11)

Sen. Chuck Schumer Called It “Extreme” To Not Support Raising Taxes On Oil Companies. SCHUMER: “Now, you know, Christiane, I have no problem with reporters hearing that. I said it a few hours before on the floor of the Senate. I’ve said it on this show. … Any group that says you don’t cut oil subsidies to companies making billions and billions of dollars. Subsidies that were passed when the price of oil was $17 to encourage production and now the price is over $100. … Yeah, I believe they’re extreme.” (ABC’s “This Week,” 4/3/11)

But what the Senate’s leading Democrats failed to note was that a bipartisan Senate majority already rejected similar tax hikes earlier this year. And other leading Senate Democrats have noted the potential job losses that would come from increasing those taxes.